The Infected
by MeetingPeopleIsEasy
Summary: The virus hits America, with devistating results.


The Infected  
Based on the Motion Picture Film "28 Days Later"  
  
"New reports find that the infection has spread throughout Europe and into  
North America. There is no safe haven now."  
  
An old man sat in his rocking chair, smoking a pipe outside his cabin on a mountainside in New York. Suddenly, he hears something. "Damn raccoons," he said, as he picked up his shotgun. Suddenly, an infectant jumped out at him and he shot at them. "Holy shit!" he yelled as one then tackled him, and bit his neck. Quickly he pushed them off and started twitching. He was infected.  
  
It was 6 months since Great Britain had been quarantined from the rest of the world. Civilization elsewhere went on, but also had the infection. While the whole of Europe was beginning to turn out like its mother nation, the United States had minimal instances of the infection. Travel to the United States was banned, and anyone could be shot if assumed to be infected. Since there were only a few isolated cases in the docks of New York Harbor, most assumed it was safe. Some say ignorance is bliss.  
  
Edward Phillips, or "Eddie," as he liked to be called, sat in his room on his computer. In the background could be heard the soft mellow news chatter on the television... "A local man was declared as missing today. Eugene Hill, aged 68 of the Town of Apalachin was declared missing yesterday, when only bloodstains were found where his wife said she last saw him. In other news..." Eddie was too involved on his computer to be paying attention to the television. He was instant messaging his girlfriend and doing a research paper on Western Civilization at the same time, so the television was irrelevant to him. As he took a sip of Pepsi, he realized the irony in the paper he was doing. The fact that he was doing a paper on the rise of Western Civilization, while most of it was seemingly falling to the ruins of a zombie-like disease. He was only grateful he lived in the United States and not Europe, which had become a mass of riots and death. Some civilization existed left there although, and it struggled to stay strong and survive.  
After finishing up some more work on the paper, Eddie left the apartment he lived in with his parents and walked down to the local gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes. He was now 18, and this was a privilege afforded him in which he indulged. After buying a pack of Marlboro Milds, he walked down Main St. and crossed the bridge on to Court St. where he was to meet his girlfriend in front of the beautiful lawn of the courthouse. When she saw him, she came crashing into him, planting a romantic kiss on his lips. "Oh, Jane" he whispered.  
They didn't know what they were going to do, besides the fact that they were meeting up. So, they decided to walk down to the bus junction and take a bus to wherever it might lead them. They both had an adventurous spirit, and would often spend evenings taking such random actions. This time, they sat on the bus making out until the driver kicked them out at the last stop. They were left alone by the woods on top of a hill, and decided to be a little kinky... so they slowly and sensually took each other's clothing off and made love in the middle of the woods. As they were putting their clothing back on, Eddie lit up a cigarette and passed the pack to Jane, for her to have one also. Suddenly, they heard something. Then, they saw, to them what was a crazy old man, jump out of the brush and began to chase them. They ran together, holding hands, as fast as they could out of the woods and down the hill. They finally reached a back road called "Lookout St." at which they ran down the hill further to Conklin Avenue, a main road. By this time, they had outrun the "crazed old man" and were laughing, and began to kiss again. They spend the next hour talking and walking home together, parting where they met at the court house. It was an interesting evening, Indeed.  
  
Eddie awoke the next morning with a shit-eating grin on his face, remembering the perfect night before. He played with his lip ring for a minute, then put on his "emo" t-shirt with a cut out heart on the front and turned on the television to check the score for the previous night's Boston Red Sox game. But what he saw first came as a big surprise. On the television was a picture of the crazed old man that chased him and Jane the night before...  
  
"Eugene Hill, the mysterious missing man, has been sighted recently kidnapping children in a new streak of events of attacks on the south side of Binghamton that began last night..."  
  
Eddie picked up the phone and called Jane immediately... "Put it on channel two!" he yelled... and they both shared an "Oh my God..." as they watched the story be told on the 12 o clock news report. "Lets meet at the police station down-town, 20 minutes" Eddie said, before a quick "I love you" and a hang up.  
  
At the police station, they reported their "incident" to which the police took very seriously. As they left, they saw a woman being attacked outside, and forgetting his pacifist ways, Eddie jumped over and tackled the crazed man attacking the woman. Police soon followed behind, but what he saw in the man's eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life. He saw infection.  
  
"He couldn't have been infected, that doesn't happen here!" Jane argued with Eddie. "Did you see his eyes? His face? The way he was twitching? Its just like they show on the fucking TV Jane, he was fucking infected!" The TV sat alone, on. Jane points "Then why isn't it all over the news, huh?" "For now, they wanna think that they have it under control. That they're doing their job. But you know what, they fucking know they don't. They know soon the streets will be flooded with those motherfuckers. That's what I'm saying, we've gotta get out of here." Jane was hesitant "My parents, you know they wont believe in any of this... that they believe that this whole thing is a government hoax for mind control." Eddie spoke up "Then they're next" Eddie said. Jane knew it was true, and it upset her. She slapped Eddie in the face, and yelled "GET OUT!" "You don't understand Jane! We cant separate! Soon, the streets will be flooded!" She pushed him out the door and locked it, leaving him there banging for almost a half an hour before he gave up.  
  
Eddie sat alone in his room, listening to "Smashed into Pieces" by Silverstein. He just argued with his parents for about an hour, trying to convince them there were infected in the city, and they had to go. But they wouldn't believe him. They chose not to believe him. Deep down they knew, every single one that denied Eddie, still knew. They knew he was telling the truth. But nobody wants to believe that their home might turn out like Western Europe... or even worse, Great Britain. Home was just too comfortable the way it was. So, Eddie continued to sit. Then he turned on the TV....  
  
"Riots have begun on the south side of Binghamton this evening, calling for all local police and even special operations forces in to quell the growing riot."  
  
"Its beginning" he thought. He tried to force his parents to watch, but they still wouldn't believe him. He didn't know what to do. So, he smoked a cigarette.  
  
The number of infected was growing every second. The city had gone up in a mass epidemic. As warning sirens began to go off, Eddies short nap was ended. He continued to call Jane again, to no avail. She had Caller ID, and he knew she was avoiding him. He had to choose now between staying with his parents, and going to find the love of his life. He chose Jane. "I'm leaving" Eddie said sternly to his parents. "No you aren't you..." "I love you mom, I love you dad. But I have to do this..." and he bolted out the door before they could get another word in.  
  
Eddie arrived at Jane's door, and could see the riots down the street about a half a mile, with shielded police-forces being pushed farther towards him. He banged on the door of the apartment with now boarded up windows, non stop. Finally, Jane answered... "you were right." she said, as she kissed him. "We have to go..." "But your parents." Eddie said. "I argued it to fuck with them, look down the street, we have no choice. We had a big argument and they got upset and left... so its just us. We have to go." So, they left, running from the shielded officers as fast as possible.  
  
Arriving at the bus station, they tried to get a ticket to a bus to anywhere, but it was packed with others who knew the truth of infection. They continued running, always seeing shielded police officers getting closer and closer to them. Finally, they reached the north side of town, and ran towards the mountains... towards the woods. It may not be safe out there, but it wasn't safe anywhere anymore. Eddie had his pocket-knife he used to carve wood with him, while Jane carried a broken 40oz bottle. Hand in hand, they bolted into the woods as fast as possible. They ran most of the night, until they couldn't run any longer. Finally, they reached a small wooden bridge over a creek, and Eddie stayed up while Jane slept, to protect them both.  
  
As the sun rose, so did Jane. They had a decision to make - go back into the city, or to continue in the woods. The woods went on for miles, and they probably would not survive it. The city held a fate uncertain. They discussed it over a breakfast of Altoids, and decided to go back to the city. It was bright out, and they could easily protect themselves with what they had, need be. They slowly walked down the steep mountain, and arrived on a back road, and walked into the city. Some buildings were on fire, the rest were empty. The warning sirens had stopped by now, and not a single sign of life showed its face in the barren city. They walked all the way downtown, where newspapers and garbage bags danced in the wind and the streets were empty of cars.  
  
They searched around for life, but found none. So, they first went back to Jane's apartment. It was empty. She spent about an hour there weeping, Eddie comforting her. They then proceeded to Eddies apartment, where it was darkened and eerie. As he entered, immediately his neighbor, now infected, jumped at him. Eddie lept out of the way, only for his neighbor to go flying out the window and down three stories to their death. Eddie began to weep. If his neighbor was infected, what happened to his family? He knew the truth. He just prayed he'd never have to see them in such a fashion. They spent the night there, and left the next morning.  
  
Eventually they came upon "Hung Phat," a Chinese Restaurant. They decided to go in, because they were hungry, and there may still be some food laying around. They slowly entered the darkened electricity-less building, and immediately, an Asian man jumped onto the counter from behind with a shotgun! "DIE!" he yelled, prepared to pull the trigger. "WAIT!" Eddie screamed, fearing for both his and Jane's lives. The Asian man calmed quickly "You are not zombie" he said. "No, we are not" replied Jane "We are just looking for food... and others." The man climbed off of the counter and held out his hand to be shaken "My name Arturo" he said. "This my restaurant. Zombie take over city, leave for more blood." "Thank God we found you" spoke Eddie, with a sigh of relief.  
  
That night, Arturo fed them, and they began to talk. "We have to find others." said Eddie, "we have to form a militia... we have to protect ourselves." "So much for being a pacifist" spoke Jane. Eddie replied softly and sternly, "You cant kill what's already dead..."  
  
The next morning, the three decided to leave the restaurant, to look for others. They needed to stop what was happening before America became what Europe already was. They began walking along railroad tracks, and going into rail cars to look for items to protect themselves, wear, or anything else that would be useful in their endeavor. Eddie held out his pocket knife in one of the cars, when suddenly, one of the infected jumped out at him. It was a child of about four years of age. He immediately stabbed the infected in the face, killing him instantly. In what seemed an infinity, the knife dropped from his hand, and he fell to his knees and wept. He had realized what life had become. He spoke with Jane that night, and they sat and cried, like they would for many nights. Their parents, relatives, friends... they knew their fate. What was worse is they knew what they would have to do if they ever found them.  
  
The three would each night at dusk find a place to stay, one of them staying up each night as guard. Weeks passed. Eddie was growing a slight beard, as the relationship with Eddie, Jane, and Arturo grew stronger. Killing had become regular, as the infected never seemed to dissipate. One night, while walking through a town called "Whitney Point," they saw a light coming from the hill. "LIFE!" Eddie shouted. They ran for what seemed an eternity up the hill, to reach the first sign of electricity they had seen in over a month. They then saw the solar panels atop the house, and understood where the power came from. They entered slowly, and searched the house for life. Seemingly finding nothing, they prepared to leave, when Eddie backed into a man on the way out the door. "Looking for something?" the man said. "HOLY SHIT! You scared the shit out of me!" Eddie yelled. "The name is Mike. Mike O'Neill." He was a man of about forty with a scraggly beard, and a katana. "You're the first life I've seen since the infection spread. I found this old place about a week ago, and have been hiding out here." "We are forming a militia." Eddie spoke. "Join Us." "I used to believe that we were each alone in this world, on our own paths," Mike spoke. "But I have learned that to survive, humanity must work as a collective. I will join your 'militia.'"  
  
Over the next week, they outfitted this large home to become their home base. With a CB Radio they found on the property, they would spend long nights signaling out, trying to find anyone. Finally, they picked up on someone one night. "This is Officer Robinson, Binghamton Police Force, if there is anyone out there, please respond." Eddie ran over in excitement and grabbed the small microphone. "My name is Edward Phillips, can you hear me?" "Loud and clear!" the voice said in joy. "We have a small militia formed. We are at the lit home in Whitney Point. Is there any way we can locate you." They talked for about an hour, learning that the officer worked his way back to the Binghamton Police station. The next day, they had to trek, to meet this officer.  
  
After hours of walking, Eddie, Jane, Arturo, and Mike arrived in Binghamton at the police station and entered. "WHO GOES THERE?" someone yelled. "It is the militia!" Eddie yelled. The officer came out, in full riot gear. "I have a swat van." he spoke. "We can all fit into it. There is nothing left for us here, we have to go down to the city. We have to find out how far this has gone." "The city?" Arturo spoke. "Yes, New York. If the virus has reached there, Id assume there are more survivors. Like you said, we need to form a militia, this needs to stop." And the next morning, they drove off down the empty highway, headed for New York. About 5 miles outside of the city, they hit traffic. Just empty cars, piled on top of each other. "Bloody hell..." Eddie spoke. "One can only imagine the chaos that must have gone on here" Jane said. They walked toward the city, finding nothing but lifelessness.  
They arrived at the Lincoln tunnel, when Eddie spoke "This is a bad fucking idea, we shouldn't go in there." "Don't worry, I have a flash light." Officer Robinson spoke. They walked for about twenty minutes in the tunnel, when birds, and other rodents started flocking by them incredibly fast. "The infected, they're coming!" Officer Robinson shouted. They began to run, and ran for about 20 minutes non stop through the tunnel. Jumping over cars, sliding under trucks... Eddie and Jane stayed hand in hand. They ran as fast as they could and eventually exited the tunnel, and ran for an apartment building. They climbed the stairs, entered a room, and slammed the door shut, locking it. Looking out the window, they saw hundreds of confused infected, looking for them. They decided, to be safe, to stay the night at the apartment. The next morning, they headed for downtown Manhattan.  
  
Times square, the empire state building... once products of life and civilization, were barren reminders of a past now lost. They decided they would enter the Empire State Building. Climbing the stairways, they heard nothing... but when they reached the top, there were about fifty infected. Eddie, Arturo, Officer Robinson, and Mike, were slashing, dashing, and shooting as much as possible while Jane hid behind them. Slowly, as Mike swung his katana, chopping off the head of an infected. A drop of blood went flying, directly into Jane's mouth. "NO!" she screamed. As the last infected died, Eddie turned around only for Jane to whisper "I love you..." as she started twitching. Suddenly, she jumped up, eyes beat red. Eddie now knew she was infected. As she leaped at him, he did nothing. He simply could not kill her. Luckily (or unluckily?) for Eddie, Arturo blasted her head off with the shotgun he was holding. Eddie backed away slowly and silently, blood all over himself, tears streaming down his blank face. He looked over the edge of the building, and thought. Should he jump? "No." Mike said, in his usual emotionless tone. "She would have wanted you to live. I am sorry for your loss." he said as he put a hand on Eddie's shoulder and they looked over the edge, alone. The sun was setting, and Eddie never felt so alone in his life.  
  
The days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Slowly, the militia gathered more and more uninfected. To Eddie it was a blur... a blur of nothingness. The world as he knew it was dead. He himself was already dead. And as he smoked his cigarette, looking at the dimming sunlight from the top of the fortress that was the Empire State Building, he cried one last time. 


End file.
